Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Issue Poll Results

I have placed several polls dealing with important issues that affect us as Harford County citizens. The first issue poll was the in-district vs. countywide council elections poll. Overwhelmingly people preferred in-district elections. I think this might reflect the “keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer” mentality. At times politicians can become our enemies. Ultimately people do not really trust politicians. I see no reason for people to voluntarily relinquish the leash. “Keep’em close” is what people are saying. Once again, Wagner and the Aegis are on the wrong side of the issue. What a surprise!

The other poll dealt with Craig’s veto. It was pretty obvious that he was going to veto. Most people said that he should for a number of reasons. The number one reason was “Too much rezoning.” I do not necessarily agree but the writing was on the wall. Funny thing is I have not really heard much from Helton about the veto. I guess she is busy looking for another reason for people to vote for her. Good luck Ann.

The third issue poll was and still is the vacant Cassilly seat. I am certainly in the minority here. Most have said so far that they are fine with no one representing District C. How would we feel if our Congressmen stopped going to Washington to vote on important legislation? Conservatives in Joppatowne and Edgewood might not have a problem with that. With the failed veto override last night it is becoming even more necessary to have a voice representing District C as we move into uncharted waters. I predicted the veto and I also predict a huge mess over the veto.

I put the “Leave the man alone” option up almost as a joke. I am a little surprised that people actually think that Cassilly should just leave the seat vacant. Why? Who is served by a vacancy on the County Council? Not me, not you, not anyone. Again, I am in the minority here. Can someone please articulate why he should not resign his seat? I’m stumped.

I read it this morning. Justin Fenton is doing a good job keeping up with this mess.

Could be challenged? It will be. Imagine you are the Farrell family and you stand to make millions of dollars of the "successful" upzoning of your property. You are not going to sit silently while they exclude you from the new bill. If I were the developers and families who are being screwed by this change in the zoning code, I would force them to start over from scratch. Technically and probably legally it is the only way to go. They followed the process and their property was upzoned. The County Executive vetoed and now wants a new bill without any hearings. The developers and families will not stand for that and they shouldn't. If Craig and crew want to change the zoning code, fine. But any changes should not come into effect until the next round of re-zoning. I have a feeling that a judge would see it that way too. The whole system is inefficient. Changing zoning every 8 years is ridiculous. There should be a branch of government that is constantly reviewing land usage and making changes as needed. I believe that is how it is done in other counties. If you want to change zoning, they post a sign, have community meetings, and if no one in the community strongly objects, the zoning is approved. This whole debacle is exposing the gross deficiencies in Harford County's zoning procedures. This is probably a good thing because change is needed in our growing county. We need to be able to quickly adapt to that change.